NFL Needs Better Concussion Guidelines: Top Doc

The Ray Rice affair is the latest in a string of cases to raise questions about whether sports-related brain injuries predispose some athletes to mental health disorders or to commit violent acts. The NFL has adopted new protocols for dealing with head injuries, but one of the nation’s leading concussion specialists says more needs to be done.

Teena Shetty, M.D., a New York-based neurologist at Hospital for Special Surgery and NFL consultant, tells Newsmax Health’s Meet the Doctors that the NFL and other sports organizations need better guidelines and treatments for traumatic head injuries, in light of continuing research into the potential links between injury-related brain disorders, mental health issues, and domestic violence.

“In terms of advising the NFL, I think better guidelines, better management [are needed] — and I think they’re very much trying to do that — [and] its’ very important to educate the trainers and the coaches and have everybody collaborate and to advance research in science,” says Dr. Shetty, a triple-board certified specialist in sports neurology and a consultant for the New York Mets and an independent team neurologist for the New York Giants.